Nantucket Shoals Wind Farm Field Monitoring Program

A 2024 consensus report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales, examined the potential for offshore wind farms in the Nantucket Shoals region to affect oceanic physical processes and in turn impact ecosystem dynamics, including zooplankton productivity and aggregations relevant to right whale foraging and population health. Among other recommendations, the report outlined the need for observational and modeling efforts to fill knowledge gaps and inform decision-making regarding wind energy development and operations in the region.

To delve further into specifically what observational and monitoring activities could best meet these needs, the National Academies hosted a follow-on workshop, entitled Field Monitoring Program to Evaluate Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: A Workshop, July 9-10, 2024 in Washington, DC. The workshop brought together participants from academia, government, and the offshore wind industry to explore examples of observational needs and discuss components of a field monitoring program that could help to advance models for elucidating the potential effects of wind energy development on Nantucket Shoals ecology. This Proceedings of a Workshop was prepared by rapporteurs as a high-level summary of what occurred at the workshop.